Ferns already had five known high cross fragments, and the dimensions and decoration of this newly discovered piece ruled out any connection to any of them. It was a sixth object in a collection that nobody had known was incomplete.

High crosses, typically large free-standing stone crosses carved with biblical scenes, interlace, and abstract ornament, were a distinctive feature of early medieval Irish monasteries, and Ferns was one of the more significant of those foundations. The fragment carries a fret design, a repeating geometric pattern of angular interlocking lines, on one large face, interlace on the other, and key patterns along its narrow panels. Researchers noted that the fret work closely resembles carving on the shaft of a cross associated with Diarmait Mac Murchada, the twelfth-century King of Leinster whose invitation to Anglo-Norman lords set in motion the medieval conquest of Ireland. That comparison, along with other stylistic parallels, points to a ninth-century date for both pieces, placing this fragment in the early Christian period long before Mac Murchada's name became attached to the site. For safe-keeping, the fragment has been moved from the graveyard to Ferns Castle nearby, where it is now held.